The present invention relates to a controlling program, an image forming apparatus and a print controlling method, and specifically relates to a controlling program, an image forming apparatus and a print controlling method, each of which has a function for controlling a printing operation of a document including secret information.
In recent years, there have been increasingly proliferated in the market various kinds of copiers or multi-functional apparatuses (such as a MPF: Multi Function Peripheral, etc.), each of which is provided with a combination of plural functions, such as a copy function, a facsimile function, a printer function, a scanner function, etc., and has been widely utilized in various offices, etc. (hereinafter, referred to as an image forming apparatus as a general term for each of them). The document to be printed by the image forming apparatus could be either such a document that all of its contents are opened to all users, or such a document that includes some secret information for which only a specific user is allowed to read. When printing the latter document, it is necessary to control the printing operation so as not to leak the secret information, included in the document concerned, to unauthorized personnel.
With respect to the print controlling operation mentioned in the above, Tokkai 2003-32487 (Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication) sets forth an image forming method that includes: establishing a copy prohibited area while correlating it to a user ID (Identification) code, when the operator inputs the user ID code and inputs designation information by designating the copy prohibited area in the screen currently displaying an image concerned; displaying the copy prohibited area in an identifiable manner; and generating image data representing an image in which a copy prohibiting mark is synthesized with the copy prohibited area so as to output the generated image data.
According to the abovementioned image forming method set forth in Tokkai 2003-32487, when the inputted user ID code coincides with an ID code registered in advance corresponding to the copy prohibited area concerned, the printing operation is controlled so as to print the image in which the copy prohibiting mark is attached to the concerned image in the original document, while, when the inputted user ID code does not coincide with the ID code registered in advance, the printing operation is controlled so as not to print the concerned image as a whole, or to print an image in which the copy prohibited area concerned is excluded from the original image. Accordingly, it is possible to configure the image forming apparatus in such a manner that the information, recorded within the copy prohibited area, cannot be disclosed for an unauthorized user.
The abovementioned method, however, is effectively usable only under the condition that the relationship between the image forming apparatus and the user is kept in a one-to-one correspondence. Further, since the prior art reference of Tokkai 2003-32487 includes no such concept that a specific user makes a plurality of copies so as to distribute them to the other personnel, the authorized (or authenticated) user can make any number of copies, each of which includes the image in which the copy prohibiting mark is attached to the copy prohibited area. Therefore, there has been a problem that, if the authorized user has distributed the plurality of copies to the unauthorized personnel, it is impossible to prevent the leakage of the secret information.